Due to the growing interest in athletic activity among adults, there has been a significant growth in the clothing and other accoutrements associated with various sports such as jogging, skiing, tennis, and others. For women athletes there have been attempts to provide in the marketplace athletic brassieres suitable for women to hold the breasts comfortably and snugly to the body during a particular athletic activity. Beyond comfort and cosmetics, there are significant health reasons for requiring specially made support garments for female athletes. Without adequate support during strenuous athletic activity, such as jogging or tennis, breast tissue can actually breakdown. In addition to discomfort this can cause premature sagging of the breasts. However, garments, supposedly adapted to overcome these problems, suffered from deficiencies which have prevented their wide acceptance in the marketplace. Often they have simply been adaptations of brassieres which are used in a non-athletic environment, are expensive to manufacture, and require a multitude of sizes to fit the wearers.
There have been a number of athletic garments or sports garments for women which allegedly are adapted for athletic activity, but often do not serve the purpose for which they were made. For example, many garments are difficult to secure to the torso such that, although they may form an adequate support function, it is very difficult if not awkward to get the garment onto the torso. Others are ill-appearing and simply not suitable to wear comfortably in public. Some have used forms such as cups which require a multitude of different sizes, increase the expense by having different forms sewn or otherwise stitched in place. Deficiencies in garments without forms include inadequate separation, resulting in a reduction in the support function and an unacceptable cosmetic appearance. In addition, some garments include a number of extra straps, hooks or other securing devices which make it difficult to place a garment on a wearer and adjust the garment properly to achieve the desired support and comfort. Some garments on the other hand provide no adjustability whatsoever in which case the garment cannot be customized to the particular user.
The invention disclosed herein overcomes to a large extent all the deficiencies discussed above. Applicant has arrived at a bra which is adjustable, avoids the need for forms, is easy to place on the wearer, provides the necessary separation and can be secured adequately to the torso. The adjustability with other features reduce the number of sizes required such that one, or at least a few sizes, can fit a multitude of wearers.
To achieve the features discussed above, the garment of the invention includes at least two front panels and one rear panel made of Lycra Spandex.TM. or other elastic material which is generally elastic in all directions. The front panels have a connecting means to secure them together when the garment is placed on the wearer to provide an easy manner for fastening the garment in place. This configuration permits the wearer to easily see and adjust the garment to the proper position. Along the bottom edge of the garment there is an elastic band having a higher spring rate than the elastic material forming the front and rear panels. This band in addition is elastic only in the lateral direction to insure that the garment is secured properly in place vertical direction on the wearer. The straps which extend from the front panels and complementary straps from the rear panels are adjustable through adjustable fastening mechanism which in the preferred embodiment includes hook and loop fasteners such as those sold under the trademark Velcro. In this manner, the vertical position of the garment can be changed to that comfortable for the wearer very readily without any loss in the support function.
In the vicinity where the front panels of the garment are secured to one another, the garment is made substantially rigid, or has only a relatively slight elasticity in the vertical direction, to maintain the desired separation and the consequent appealing cosmetic appearance. To enhance the separation feature along with the support function, reinforcing means are included in the vicinity of the connecting means on the front panels and adjacent the edges which form the cut-out for the neck and head on the upper portions of the front panels and straps. The reinforcing means specifically include elastic strips having a width between 3/8 and 7/8 inches and having an elasticity less than that of the panel material, but having a spring rate greater than that of the panel material. Furthermore, the reinforcing strips are elastic only in the longitudinal direction as the strips extend vertically in the vicinity of the connecting means and along the edges forming the cut-out of the straps. With this configuration, the separation is maintained, and support along the front portion of the garment is enhanced. These features combine to insure that the garment is secured properly in the vertical direction, is fixed to the torso, and supports with the needed separation for the breasts between each of the first and second panels.
These features have simply not been accomplished by garments which presently exist in the marketplace and of which applicant is aware. For example, an athletic brassiere is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,150 issued to Schreiber et al. on Jan. 19, 1982. Although, there is disclosed in the Schreiber et al. patent, an athletic brassiere having a wide elastic rib-band and elastic straps, it suffers from some of the deficiencies discussed more generally above in connection with other garments. For example, there is no easy manner in which the garment can be placed on the wearer. It has be pulled over the head and the arms forced through the cut-outs for the garment to be secured in place. As a result, it is difficult to get on, assuming that sufficient spring rate and elasticity is provided in the materials. Furthermore, there is a lack of adjustability provided, requiring multitude of sizes to fit various wearers. Extra seams are apparently required to insure the needed support, and there does not appear to be in any event a provision for separation as provided in the invention disclosed herein.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,289,137 issued to Dell et al. (hereinafter Dell) on Sept. 15, 1981, entitled "Sports Brassiere", is also directed to one-piece back, stronger underbust support, having breast cups which are made to limit upward bounce during jogging or similar athletic activities, but which have elastic panels supporting the underside of the breasts. Thus, Dell requires special forms on the bra to achieve the support function. Also the strong elastic band for securing the bra properly to the torso beneath the bust line, and the adjustability features of the invention are absent from the Dell device. Accordingly, Dell also requires a multitude of sizes to fit various users. It is not clear how the Dell garment would be secured and maintained adequately on the torso, at least in the vertical disposition, with the configuration shown and described.
Another garment which is an example of other sports garments of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,325,378 issued to Wilkinson on April 20, 1982. This garment comprises inner and outer breast supporting flaps overfitting the liner, with the liner being independently displacable. Although some adjustability is provided in the lateral direction, there is no adjustability in the vertical direction. In addition, the garment utilizes some forms and consequently would require multitude of different sizes to fit properly for each user. And here again, as with Dell, there does not appear to be a provision for a relatively wide band of stronger elastic material to secure the garment properly in the vertical direction on the torso.
Although other garments have used fastening devices in the front of the garment and elastic bands at the base of the garment, no garment has used such devices with the adjustability and the securing means, to achieve the separation and the needed support in the vicinity of the front of the garment as applicant has in this invention. As result, the invention has been able to achieve features of support, convenience and adjustability in one garment which have not been available in the garments on the market thus far.
Although, the above has been a discussion of many advantages which characterize this invention, other advantages will become apparent from a review of the detailed discussion of the preferred embodiment which follows.